


Cinco: Solo

by corneroffandom



Category: Impact Wrestling | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:07:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27305329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corneroffandom/pseuds/corneroffandom
Summary: Halloween looks different this year, but the group makes the most of it anyway.
Relationships: Ethan Carter III | Derrick Bateman/Rockstar Spud, Robbie E/DJ Zema Ion, Wade Barrett/Heath Slater, Zack Ryder/Dolph Ziggler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Cinco: Solo

A/N: I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

Ricardo Rodriguez taps his foot absently against the couch, listening to Sofia bustling around the kitchen, humming under her breath. He can smell meat baking, anticipating whatever she's whipping up for a somewhat special holiday meal. But for now, the majority of his focus is on the computer before him. The screen flickers tauntingly at him and he sighs, shaking his head slowly and pressing the back of his neck against the back of the couch. "Come on," he mumbles.

He's still waiting impatiently when there's a soft chime from the device and he sits up straight, staring down at the screen as it finally, finally loads what he's been waiting for- a chat screen forms, and he chuckles softly as he gets a good first look at a massive mess of orange and black sprawled over Zack Ryder's walls. "Hola?" he calls out, and a moment later Zack appears.

"Hey, bro, sorry, this took awhile to set up." He looks frazzled under thick, purple face paint and Ricardo stares at him. Noticing, Zack straightens up and grins. "What do you think?"

"What are you supposed to be?" he wonders and Zack makes a face.

"I tried to tell Ziggler," he grumbles, ignoring as Ricardo stifles his giggles. "I... he." He groans. "His bright idea was to go as Nerds. You know, the candy? So it's like a costume that sticks us together, he's pink and I'm purple."

Ricardo tilts his head. "Huh. That's different."

"I think it's his way of making fun of me," Zack says with a shrug. "Better than his original idea."

"Dare I ask?" Ricardo murmurs, and Zack looks skyward for a moment before turning his attention back to his friend.

"He initially suggested we go as Mandy Rose and Otis."

"..." Ricardo coughs, a stab of sympathy for his friend rushing through him. "He's still hung up on that, huh?"

"Not as much as he was," Zack concedes. "But you know how he gets about mocking things that bother him."

"Yeah." Ricardo watches for a little bit as Zack quietly sorts through something off-screen, clearly trying to get those memories out of his head. "Hey, are the others going to be by soon?"

This cheers Zack up and he grins at the screen. "Yeah, Heath and Wade are on their way, and Drake and Ethan should be shortly after that. As for Robert and Joaquin, I'm not sure, but you know how that goes."

"Yeah," Ricardo says, pleased that, at the least Joaquin will be present this go around. It's progress. They're still idly chatting about this and that when there's a commotion and Zack looks up.

"Heath's here," he says and Ricardo laughs.

"I can tell," he says fondly, listening to their friend's loud, exuberant voice as he approaches where they're at. It takes awhile and Ricardo is reminded that he's injured- not as badly as it could've been, but still. A _hernia_ at such a crucial point in his career. He grimaces in sympathy as Heath finally, slowly, reaches the room, Wade's steadying hold on his arm helping him along.

"Hey, guys, what's happenin'!"

"Hey, Heath, nice of you to join us," Zack teases and Ricardo sits back, listening to their bickering with a soft smile on his face.

"Ricardo!" Heath exclaims upon noticing the laptop. He moves as quickly as he can to stand in front of the screen. "Make Zack stop bullyin' me!"

Ricardo laughs softly. "I dunno, Heath, he _is_ the host, I have very little power over what he does from across country."

"Damn straight," Zack says, poking Heath in the shoulder lightly. "Now sit down before you fall down, Eight Ball."

He shifts and Ricardo sees it then- the large eight on Heath's shirt as he slumps down in front of the camera. "Hey! I wanted to be something better this year, but I..." His voice falters a little and he looks away. "It sucked too much to get on so I had to improvise."

"Well, you still put more thought into it than Wade did," Zack comments, casting a glance behind them. "You just recycled Bad News Barrett? Really?"

"It's not even the first time this week," Heath pouts and Ricardo finds himself grinning even harder when there's a flash of black over the screen.

"I'm not going to put myself out if you get to be lazy this year, Ginger." He grips Heath's jaw and kisses him slow and deep, and Ricardo counts the seconds in his head until they finally pull away, snorting at the dazed look on Heath's face, clear even through the somewhat staticky screen.

"Yeah, well, I'm injured, least I got an excuse," he calls out as Wade walks off. He shakes his head and turns his attention back to Ricardo, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that, man. So how's things been? I heard you're leavin' us for _Egypt?!_ What the hell, man!"

Ricardo's grin is so large that it almost hurts as they begin discussing it, Heath's urging of him to _not_ try to steal a mummy making him laugh out loud.

"Oh, I think Drake and Ethan are here," he says a minute later, looking uncomfortable. "Ya seen Ethan lately?"

"Hm, yeah, he didn't take everything with WWE too well, did he?" Ricardo asks. He had spiraled too, after his release and when things didn't go as well as he'd hoped, but he had come around. He hopes, especially for Drake's sake, that Ethan will as well.

Before Heath could answer, Drake peeks his head in and lights up. "Hey, Heath, mate, how's it going?" Spotting the laptop, he rushes over and sits next to him. "Hullo, Ricardo, good to see you, everything good in California?"

Drake's covered in fur and face paint, and Ricardo can't tell if he's trying to be a cat, or maybe some strange resemblance of Killian Dain. _The Furry and the Fury._ Ricardo shakes his head at the thought. Either way, he decides not to ask, this year already too much to fathom in a lot of ways.

Either way, he's always such a rush of a man, his size definitely never holding him back no matter what the situation, that Ricardo has to grin as he forces himself to focus on the conversation instead of potentially haunting costume choices. "Hey, Ricardo, it's going fine over here. How are things with you?"

"Great!" he says, hands fumbling together in Drake's usual high energy, nervous way. "I've got myself a tag partner now, you've seen him, right? Dain?" Ricardo _has_ , and he thinks about saying something, but before he can, Drake's off running. "Things are solid with Ethan, and- he should be around somewhere. Sir," he calls out, leaning over Heath. "Come say hello! Ricardo's on the laptop!" Turning back to the computer, he chuckles. "Uh, sorry about that, Ethan's not exactly thrilled with having to spend Halloween here. You know how it goes."

Ricardo thinks he does, well aware of what Ethan's been saying and doing lately in TNA, on ROH. All about controling your own narrative and other weirdly intense statements that always leaves Ricardo more than a little uncomfortable whenever he sees them online. "Yeah, I do," he sighs.

Deciding it's time for a change of conversation, Drake leans in. "So what are you supposed to be anyway?"

Ricardo grimaces, staring down at his clothes. Glances back up at the camera and grins sheepishly. "I'm a couch potato," he says, patting the cushions he's currently sitting on, and Heath snorts.

"Aw, c'mon man," he says quietly, but Drake just nods.

"I'm sorry this Halloween isn't what you would normally like it to be, Ricardo."

Ricardo nods, his eyes feeling tight all of a sudden. Clearing his throat, he sighs. "Yeah, well, I'm definitely not alone in that." He forces a smile at his friends and leans forward. "So tell me, how ridiculous does Ziggler look in his costume?" It had _kind of_ worked for Zack, purple is his color after all, but with Dolph's hair and... yeah.

"Ridiculous, but there's nothin' new there," Heath drawls and Ricardo has to bite down a laugh again. After a few moments, both Heath and Drake look up. "I guess Joaquin and Robert are here now."

Drake hesitates for a moment, before looking back at Ricardo. "I should go make sure Robert and Ethan don't kill each other. You know how it is." He stands, but then leans down to be visible in the camera. "It was great seeing you again, Ricardo, and hopefully the next time can be in person. Take care, yeah?"

"Hey, man, you too," Ricardo calls out to Drake's rapidly retreating back. "And then there were two," he jokes as Heath shifts, trying to get comfortable.

"Yeah," he sighs.

"You gonna be alright?" he wonders, eyeing Heath.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," he exclaims. "It's just, ya know, gonna take time. 'Cause I ain't spent enough of it on the sidelines this year."

Ricardo sighs. "I'm sorry, Heath. But hey, at least you got the contract you wanted, right?"

"Yeah, couldn't have done it without Rhino," Heath says, smiling. "Guy's the best, really. Best friend I ever coulda asked for." They sit in thoughtful silence for a bit and then Heath shifts again, attracting Ricardo's attention. "So what're you doing tonight anyway? Figure out some way to make it fun?"

"Well, we're just gonna hang out around here with the lights off and watch some movies." It makes him feel like a child, fresh off of trick or treating and snuggling in with his sister and mother to watch whatever deemed appropriate for them until dozing off, warm and happy with his family. "It won't be the typical Halloween," he says softly, "but it'll still be good."

Heath smiles at him. "Yeah, kinda is what you make of it, huh?" He looks up and smiles as Wade returns, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Food's set up," he says and Heath exhales slowly, casting a glance at the screen.

"It's ok," Ricardo says. "I think Sofia is almost done baking as well, so don't worry about it." It hadn't meant to be a long video chat anyway, everyone off doing their own thing. "Can you send me pictures of the costumes I miss later?" He wants to see how bad the Nerd costume really is, and also can't help but wonder what Robert and Joaquin are dressed as this year, between the money Escobar seems eager to throw around with his associates and just Robert in general.

"I can do that!" Heath promises with a grin, some of the uncertainty and guilt fading from his eyes. "You have a nice night, man. We'll talk soon."

"Yeah, Heath. Feel better, alright? I look forward to seeing what you do next in Impact," Ricardo tells him and he beams.

"Thanks man, that's the plan! Happy Halloween, Ricardo."

"Happy Halloween, Heath." Ricardo smiles as the camera goes dark, and then a screen pops up over the chat informing him it's been ended. He sighs softly, wishing he could be with his friends right now, teasing Ziggler over his costume choices as he discreetly hovers, making sure Heath gets to the table safely, but it is what it is.

Later that night, between movies, he checks his phone and laughs softly as he scrolls through the promised pictures from Heath. Ziggler looks as ridiculous as Ricardo would've assumed, face coated in pink and pressed snug to Zack's side, the love still obvious between the two of them despite everything that's happened this year. In a different picture, Joaquin is sharp in a suit, face paint done carefully to complete the look he'd had at Halloween Havoc Wednesday. Robert has on a green wig and heavy makeup, some skin tight outfit on, and Ricardo stifles a laugh when he realizes he's gone as some mockery of Shotzi Blackheart, even with a toy tank in hand. "Oh, God, my poor eyes," he moans, quickly swiping that picture away in an attempt to spare his brain any further trauma.

"I wonder if he had socks on..."


End file.
